Glossary of common terminology
in the electronics industry

ADAS

Advanced Driver Assistance System. Systems to support the driver of a vehicle.

AMOLED

Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. In an AMOLED display, each pixel is its own light source. This enables the production of thinner, more energy-efficient displays.

AR/VR

Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality. Augmented Reality (AR) is a live view of a physical, realistic environment where elements have been enhanced using computer-generated sensory impressions, such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. The technology can be used to increase understanding of the current reality in contrast to Virtual Reality (VR) that replaces the real world with a simulated world.

Assembly fluids

In electronics manufacturing many different types of fluids are used in the assembly process. A few examples are adhesives and conductive adhesives.

Circuit board

A circuit board is a board of insulated material containing a pattern of electrical conductors. See also Printed circuit board (PCB).

Die Bonding

Die Bonding is a process where Die, which is a small block of semiconducting material on which a specified functional circuit is manufactured, is bonded either to its packaging or to a substrate, which enables communication with the external environment.

Dispensing

Dispensing is used in the manufacturing of electronics to apply adhesives, solder paste or other mounting fluids onto circuit boards. This also includes conformal coating of circuit boards

Electronic packaging

The manufacturing step that packages a semiconductor chip so that it is protected and can be connected to other electronics components in electronic products.

Fine metal mask

The photomask used for the deposition process of organic material used when manufacturing OLED displays.

Internet of Things

A collective term for when machines, vehicles, goods, household appliances, clothing and other items are equipped with built-in sensors. Units can communicate and in this way behavior adapted to the situation is created.

Jet printing

A printing technology for non-contact application of solder paste on circuit boards.

LCD

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is a technology for the manufacturing of displays. LCD is based on liquid crystal material, an electrically active fluid. There are two main LCD technologies: active (TFT-LCD) and passive (PM-LCD or TN/STN LCD).

Lithography

A technique to transfer a pattern from a template to a solid material.

Mask writer

Exposure equipment used for the manufacture of photomasks.

Multi-purpose market

A broad market segment for many different application areas. Examples include electronic packaging and touch screen applications.

Nanometer, nm

One billionth of a meter, or one millionth of a millimeter.

OLED

Organic Light Emitting Diode. OLED works in the same manner as conventional light emitting diodes, but instead of semiconductors, thin organic films are used to produce strong and vivid colors with a very high level of contrast. OLED displays use the material in every pixel as a light source, which offers several advantages in image quality compared with LCD. OLED technology also enables flexible displays.

Photomask

A photomask can be compared to a photo negative. A pattern is written with a Mycronic mask writer and transferred to the end product by a lithographic process. The photomask consists of a transparent substrate of glass or quartz that is covered with a thin layer of chrome and a layer of photoresist. Photoresist is a light-sensitive material that can be developed and then washed away after exposure to light. After writing, the photoresist is developed and the pattern is transferred to the chrome layer by etching.

Pick and place machines

Surface mount technology (SMT) component placement systems are called pick-and-place machines, a term for robots that pick and place electronic components on a printed circuit board (PCB).

Pixel

Earlier called “dot” and “pel” (short for picture element), the smallest element in a raster graphic. Uses include showing images on displays.

Printed circuit board (PCB)

Circuit boards are PCBs with mounted electrical components. A circuit board can have surface or through-hole mounting or a combination. The components can be mounted on one side or both.

Semiconductors

An electronic component containing more than one circuit element. Examples include memories, processors and amplifiers.

Solder paste

Material that creates electrical and mechanical connection between the PCB and its electronic components.

Surface mounting

The dominant technology within electronics production where components are mounted onto the surface of a circuit board.

TFT-LCD

TFT-LCD, an active LCD display, providing better image quality and faster response than a passive. It is the standard technology in computers and LCD-TVs. The active LCD displays have at least one Thin Film Transistor (TFT) in each pixel.